Remember this buck?

Wow what a story, Was this a LE unit? I think I'd have mixed feelings if I had followed that toad for that long when I found someone else had taken him. But cool you had many opportunities to see and photo him.

Congrats to the hunter, she definately put her time in for that one. That is cool to have the year over year progression of the deer.

Yes a LE unit, and yes I had mixed feelings for sure. But she definitely put in her time for sure. Was fun to watch the buck for such a long period.

That is one good looking buck.

This buck was really fun for us to watch and grow over the years, to bad he had to go but she did have her heart set on this one buck. Just got done doing a set of repros of him....

Great story and great looking buck. It's always cool to see the progression and growth.

"Mularcher" wrote:I think I'd have mixed feelings if I had followed that toad for that long when I found someone else had taken him.

"MuleyMadness" wrote:Yes I had mixed feelings for sure.

Why, because you took a couple pictures over a few years?
Not to say that you shouldn't feel that way, but I don't understand why you'd have this mentality. Just because I take a few pics of a deer or scout one deer exclusively for a summer doesn't entitle me to be the only hunter out there with a chance to harvest it.
In a general unit I might understand a bit more, but in a LE unit it is likely that before you or I would have drawn a tag for that unit he would have been harvested by someone else anyway.

If I remember right Mr. Muleymadness should be getting close to being able to pull a tag for that area.

I can understand the mixed feelings. It's not a matter of ownership of the animal. It's just that it will be missed for the chance to watch it grow and take pictures of it.

Also scouting for an animal to hunt can start long before you ever draw a tag if you know what area that you want to hunt in.

Why, because you took a couple pictures over a few years?
Not to say that you shouldn't feel that way, but I don't understand why you'd have this mentality. Just because I take a few pics of a deer or scout one deer exclusively for a summer doesn't entitle me to be the only hunter out there with a chance to harvest it.

Derek,

I completely don't understand your post here?? I NEVER even hinted that I was entitled to be the only hunter to harvest this buck. I don't or didn't have a tag, this bucks was hunted SERIOUSLY and HEAVILY by several people for 2 straight years (including a different lady all last year).

I enjoy watching deer, plain and simple and yes if some day, hopefully sooner than later when I do draw a tag I love to chase a big ole buck just like her. But yes I had mixed feelings, why wouldn't I? I like watching, photography, videoing, deer. That's my passion, so when a big buck hit's the dirt, he's dead and gone forever. No more video, experiences, etc. And there is not 200"+ deer behind every corner. So I was a bit bummed. But good on her, she was dedicated, persistent, and stuck with it and arrowed a MONSTER on the last day of Archery season. Great job. :thumb

I'm actually really impressed she pulled it off, I knew this buck would be really difficult to kill. And was a bit skeptical that anyone could pull it off.

There is also more to the story, but I'm not going to get into that online. I shouldn't have even replied since a_bow_nut did a great job of answering the question. :)

Ya, I knew I'd ruffle feathers with that one as soon as I hit submit. "Entitled" is an unfortunate choice of words on my part.

The initial comment I quoted is what sent me spiraling with the implication that the feelings were because somebody else had taken him.

I have no doubt that you'll find and be able to photograph similar, if not superior bucks next year... yes, this one is gone but there will be others.

I completely get where Brett is coming from. There are a group of bulls that winter near my house every year. For the past four winters I have watched and taken a few pictures of a bull that was killed this last fall. Congrats to the hunter, but I always feel a little saddened when one of the bulls that I've been watching doesn't come back for the winter. We've even had tags for the area that these bulls come from, but never really pursued them for a variety of reasons. Again, congrats to the hunter, but I'll miss seeing him this winter when his buddies show up.